Friday, September 5, 2014

Post-Beast Soreness

Post-Beast Muscle
Soreness

With the
Beast quickly approaching, it’s time to talk about reducing the pain and
discomfort that ensues following the completion of the course.Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is the
sensation of pain and/or discomfort experienced 24–48 hours after unaccustomed
exercise, particularly exercise that requires primarily eccentric muscle
contraction. Eccentric exercises were discussed in my first blog on Achilles
Tendonopathy.Eccentric muscle
contractions are those in which the muscle is lengthening while it is
contracting, typically to slow a joint down.An example of eccentric muscle contractions are the quadriceps muscle
while running downhill, or the contraction of the biceps muscles when lowering
a heavy weight with your arms.

While the
exact physiologic cause of DOMS is not fully understood, we know that
stretching is an effective way for many people to reduce the amount of DOMS
that is experienced post-race. A study by Reisman et al. 2005, showed that
stretching following a heavy eccentric workout was able to reduce the amount of
pain associated with DOMS.A similar
study by Jayaraman, et al., 2004, found that static stretching following
intense exercise was able to slightly reduce the amount of pain caused by DOMS.
More flexible athletes, however, tend to have no effect from performing pre and
post-workout stretching.

In general,
static stretching is advocated over the use of ballistic stretching. With
static stretching, the stretch is held for 10-15 seconds then repeated for
several repetitions.In ballistic
stretching, the stretch is not held, but the athlete moves quickly in and out
of the stretch.Ballistic stretching
tends to put more strain on tendons and their attachments, leading to a higher
risk of injury from the stretch alone.

It would be
impossible to list the millions of stretches that are out there for various
body parts, but it is important to stretch the large muscle groups, for sure,
prior to the race, and again after the race.Some suggestions are pictured
here:

Good Luck to
everyone participating in the 2014 Barber Beast on the Bay, one of the most
challenging next-gen obstacle races in the country!Hopefully, the clinical information provided
to you by the Saint Vincent Team has been helpful in your training, and I hope
this blog helps with your post-race soreness.